ELAC Alchemy DPA-2

POWER AMPLIFIER

- JASON VICTOR SERINUS

Once upon a time, in the early days of class-D amplification, the very notion that the ELAC (ELectroACoustic) Alchemy DPA-2 Stereo/Mono Power Amplifier ($1495 each) uses a class-D output stage would cause some readers to turn the page.1 But as class-D amplifiers established their pedigree as bona fide hi-fi components, audiophiles have begun to embrace the notion of a lightweight, cool-running amplifier that will not dramatically increase the electric bill and that, when properly executed, can be quite musical.

I could easily discern the naturally resonant spaciousness that the engineering/ mastering team of Jin Choi and Michael Fine captured in the Salle Colonne in Paris.

Others, though, may still balk at the suggestion that this skinny, 14lb, class-D device from the Americas division of ELAC Germany—auditioned here in bridged monoblock configuration—can get listeners close to the heart of the music. Perhaps learning that the DPA-2 was designed by Peter Madnick, who also oversaw the design team for Constellation Audio and voiced all of their products, will encourage them to explore farther.

When he developed the DPA-2, which combines a Hypex UCD class-D output module with a class-AB input stage, Madnick worked with ELAC’s power supply designer to prepare the switching power supply that supplies the juiceto its class-D module. Drawing on his experience designing close to 400 products, including 20 or 30 amplifiers for several companies, he and his team designed everything except the housing; cosmetics were left to a different ELAC team.